


Love is the Strongest Force of All

by mariothellama



Series: An Alpha-Beta Love Story [2]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alpha Matze, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Erik, Captain Mats as relationship counsellor and sex-ed teacher, Content typical of A/B/O sex, M/M, Miro as wise father of the NT, Recovering from a hopeless love affair, Set during World Cup in Brasil and first half of 2014-15 BuLi season, Sexual Content, challenging preconceptions, falling in love with your friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 05:20:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8565562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/pseuds/mariothellama
Summary: Erik is a Beta who is using the time in Brazil to recover from being hopelessly in love with Marco, an Alpha who has a complicated relationship with Robert, an Omega.Erik realises that he has feelings for his friend, who is also an Alpha. The difference this time is that Matze feels the same way about him. But can a relationship between an Alpha and a Beta really work?This is a tribute/interpretation fic inspired by 'Breathe Into Me' by the amazing Janie94





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Breathe Into Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7962757) by [Janie94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janie94/pseuds/Janie94). 



> This is a sequel to my 'We Try To Wash The Pain Away', which was my interpretation of an incident mentioned in Chapter Eight of the awesome 'Breathe Into Me'. I couldn't bear to leave Erik broken-hearted and had to write him his own happy ending. I wanted to explore the idea of an Alpha and a Beta as a couple. And I have always wanted to write these two together, but it is hard for me as Erik now belongs with Marco in my heart. If you wonder where Erik/Matze comes from, I was looking for 'baby pictures' of them to inspire me - they were so cute back then - and came across a blog post that illustrated the point perfectly. The URL is in the endnote.
> 
> Very important note. The setting for this story is completely based on Janie94's WIP and Mats, Erik, and above all Robert and Marco and their complicated relationship are the same characters as in that fic. I have been deliberately vague about Robert and Marco so as not to give away the ending of Breathe Into Me. But Erik's partner is entirely my personal choice. Janie94 may give Erik a partner in a sequel (and I am really curious to know who it will be) but I have no idea (although I have an thought or two!)

Erik relaxed in the Brazilian sunshine, letting its warmth soak deep into his bones. If he was brutally honest with himself, he was glad that Marco wasn’t here, even though that made him feel terribly guilty because Marco’s last minute injury had been so heart-breakingly horrific. But, on a purely personal level, he was glad to have this time away from the blond Alpha he had so stupidly fallen in love with last season. And this was the chance of a lifetime. Even though he was pretty sure he wouldn’t play, Erik was determined to get as much out of this opportunity as he could

Matze felt exactly the same way and the two of them sharing this experience made it even more special. They had come up together through the junior ranks and had been almost inseparable in the U-21s, sharing a room and spending much of their free time together. And now they were here. In Brazil. As the most junior members of the German world cup team.

They had swum together in the ocean earlier and were now lying cosily side by side, half dosing, half awake. Erik could feel the familiar, solid, comforting warmth of Matze’s body next to him, tall, strong and reliable. Matze was exactly the kind of Beta Erik should fall in love with, he thought. Erik wondered what it would feel like to kiss Matze, to feel his lips against his, to be able to stroke his short brown hair, to feel his powerful physique pressed against him.

In his dreamlike state it felt as if the rays of the sun were being blotted out by a warm, solid body; it felt as if Matze was leaning over him. He could almost feel the touch of Matze’s lips, feel that they were about to brush against his own. This was a very realistic dream he thought, and dream Erik prepared to meet Matze’s kiss, to kiss him soft, wet and passionate, to open his mouth and let Matze in. He could even smell Matze in his dream. Erik inhaled deeply, breathing in dream Matze’s delicious scent. That was when he realised that this wasn’t a daydream. And, even worse, that Matze smelled like an Alpha. Erik’s eyes shot open and, to his absolute horror, he saw the red sparks of desire flickering in Matze’s eyes. He pushed Matze away, trying to escape from him but ending up rather inelegantly sprawled on the ground having fallen flat on his backside.

Matze looked at him with a hurt and confused expression. ‘Sorry, Erik. I thought you wanted me to kiss you. I could sense it from you.’

‘I did. But you’re an Alpha. Why didn’t I know before now?’

Matze sighed. ‘Is that what’s wrong? You know we don’t openly discuss whether we are Alphas, Betas or Omegas in the junior teams to avoid falling into stereotyped behaviour patterns while we are still developing. That’s especially important for the Omegas. And it never mattered to me.

It would have been harder for you to tell anyway because you aren’t an Alpha or an Omega. And I’ve only been sexually mature for about a year now, most of which you’ve spent being infatuated with Marco.'

Erik chose to ignore the dig about his Marco obsession and focus on the really important question. ‘But why do I know now? How can I smell you all of a sudden? I’m not an Omega. I’m a Beta.’

‘I was always sure that you were a Beta, Erik. And the answer is obvious. We are attracted to each other and that’s building a connection between us.’

Erik felt sick inside. Just when he was beginning to recover from being in love with Marco and congratulating himself on finding a much more appropriate target for his affections, it turns out that he had rushed headlong into making the same mistake all over again. What an idiot he was.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t do this,’ he said, rushing inside without looking at Matze again. He ran headlong past Mats and Benni, ignoring their concerned questions, before throwing himself on his bed. He had to get himself under control. He couldn’t waste this once in a lifetime opportunity by falling in love with an unsuitable team mate. Again!

It was Miro who came to him later: the father of their team, the player they all looked up to, and the one person Erik couldn’t send away. Miro listened carefully to what Erik had to say, with a thoughtful expression and a kind look in his eyes.

‘It isn’t easy, Erik. Falling in love with someone is never simple. But don’t write this off just because Matze is an Alpha. There is a special connection between you two. Everyone can see that. And right now Matze is completely miserable. He thinks that he has abused your friendship and damaged it beyond repair.’

Erik couldn’t bear being responsible for Matze feeling like that. He apologised for his behaviour and everything seemed to return to normal. But Erik couldn’t forget what happened. And he was sure that Matze couldn’t either.

And going back to Dortmund didn’t help. Erik had been delighted when Matze had told him that he was transferring next season and they had excitedly planned all the things that they would do together once they lived in the same city. But now he half wished that Matze had stayed 400 km away in Freiburg, far enough away not to be a temptation for Erik’s apparent weakness for Alphas.

But they survived. They were professionals. And friends. Even if they obviously both wanted to be more and had to suppress those feelings.

Erik was just beginning to relax, to think that he hadn’t made a fool of himself this time, when their captain asked to speak to him.

Mats had a serious expression on his face and Erik wondered what on earth he had done wrong. Mats cleared his throat, obviously not sure how to begin.

‘Erik, it isn’t my job to interfere in the romantic lives of my team mates. But it is my responsibility when it could affect morale in the team. And I care about you both too. It’s so obvious to all of us how you and Matze feel about each other.’

Erik was completely mortified, turning bright red at the idea that his feelings were so transparent to his team mates. ‘I’m sorry Mats. I was trying really hard not to let it affect the team. Especially right now, when everything is going so badly.’ Badly was the understatement of the decade, one place off the bottom of the table and fighting to avoid relegation was not where Erik had thought his post-world cup season would take him. ‘We’ll try harder, I promise.’

Mats sighed. These earnest young ones, trying to do everything the right way. ‘That’s not what I meant, Erik. Have you ever thought about seeing if things could work out between you and Matze? And a bit of youthful romance might even be good for the team spirit. We need something positive to focus on. Not that I’m suggesting that you and Matze have to get together to try and improve our shocking results,’ Mats hastily tried to dig himself out of that hole.

‘But you can’t avoid each other. And this environment is pretty highly charged if there is even the slightest bit of attraction, changing and showering together, training and playing together. Matze is an Alpha and he’s deeply affected by your physical presence.’

‘But that’s exactly the problem. I’m a Beta. I can’t be with an Alpha. It’s just not possible. And I’m not really into all that weird Alpha/Omega mystic, hormone-driven sex stuff. Sorry Mats,’ Erik shrugged apologetically.

‘Don’t write off you and Matze just because of that. OK, most pairings follow the obvious patterns. But there are Alpha/Beta couples and Beta/Omega couples. I’ve even heard of two Alphas being together, although I have no idea how they manage it without killing each other.

It’s up to you and Matze to see if you can make it work. There are Alphas who can only ever be with an Omega. Marco is one of those. I don’t know about myself. I’ve never met anyone I want to mate with. But if it was a Beta, I’d like to think I’d be open-minded enough not to dismiss it out of hand. And Matze is different.

The sex stuff can be weird. But it’s fun too. And with the right one it can be amazing. Maybe the two of you should actually try talking about what you want, crazy as that sounds.

And Erik. Marco was wandering around here like some kind of Alpha nuclear explosion for months. And he is magnificent. It’s no wonder you got sucked in by that, like the proverbial moth drawn to the flame. But have you ever considered that perhaps your feelings weren’t actually about Marco? That maybe you were attracted to another Alpha? Maybe even unconsciously?’

What Mats said made sense. Erik promised to speak to Matze but, as he turned to leave, Mats called him back.

‘There’s one last thing I need to say as Matze probably won’t tell you. You’ve been thinking about the risk you’re taking being with an Alpha. But it’s a much bigger risk for Matze. You need to be sure, Erik.

If this doesn’t work, you will walk away with nothing worse than a broken heart and one of you may have to move club. But it could be harder for Matze as an Alpha. If you two … um … get closer and it … um … gets intense … ‘

Mats was sweating and blushing by now. When he took on the captain’s armband, nobody had told him that it would mean giving relationship counselling and sex education lessons to his younger team mates. Of course, if they had he would have run for the hills, which is probably why his predecessor hadn’t mentioned that particular part of the job description. And he couldn’t delegate this to his vice-captain, as Marco wasn’t really the ideal relationship role model for any young player. He wasn’t entirely sure that Marco knew exactly what he was doing either, but Mats was emphatically _not_ having this talk with him. Marco could sort out his own mess.

‘ … well … if it’s sort of serious, then Matze’s body might kind of think you’re mated. And if it doesn’t work … well … um … ’

‘OK Mats. You can stop now. I get the picture,’ Erik threw up his hands in surrender.

Erik kept his promise and he spoke to Matze after training the very next day.

‘Matze. I was thinking. If you are still interested in me, would you like to come to my flat for dinner? Not as friends. Well yes as friends. Maybe as more than friends. Well to at least talk about being more than friends.’

Erik seemed to be losing the power of rational speech as well. Mats’s mumbling must be catching. But Matze just smiled, that beautiful warm, shy, slow smile of his and answered ‘Yes. And yes.’

They sat on Erik’s couch after dinner two days later until Erik finally summoned up the courage to speak.

‘If we’re going to be more than friends, there are some questions I need answers to first.’

Matze smiled and Erik was a little annoyed that he seemed to find this funny, until he explained.

‘That’s one of the reasons I actually prefer you being a Beta. If you were an Omega, we’d probably have jumped each other by now, had sex and then talked about it. Although …’ and now there was a faint glint in Matze’s eyes and his teeth seemed to gleam in the lamplight, ‘I am having to exercise tremendous restraint not to just pounce on you, carry you off to your bedroom and make passionate love to you all night long.’

Erik swallowed. Despite what he’d said to Mats, there was something slightly arousing about Matze being completely unashamed about desiring Erik so much. Erik could be into this after all. Well with Matze at least.

‘That’s my first question. Will it always have to be you me taking me? I mean will I always have to bottom for you?’

‘Of course not. I wouldn’t make you do that. And I wouldn’t want to deny myself being able to feel you like that either. We can do it that way round the first time too if it would help.’

‘I appreciate that. But if we’re going to do this, I want to do it as properly as we can. As properly as we can even through I am only a Beta.’

‘Never think like that, Erik. You are who you are. The man I want. And it will be perfect. And even if you were an Omega, it might not all have been all plain sailing.’

Erik thought about this. He had no idea why things between Robert and Marco hadn’t worked out. They clearly had feelings for each other. And on the surface the blond Alpha and the dark-haired Omega had seemed like the perfect match. But obviously something hadn’t been right. And then Robert had left for Bayern. So maybe Matze had a point.

‘But won’t you want an Omega one day? And what about if you go into rut?’

‘You’ll be more than enough to satisfy me and help me through my rut, if you’re OK with doing that. I’ve only been in rut once until now, in Freiburg, and a team mate helped me out. We didn’t have sex though. I wouldn’t do that if there were no feelings involved. So it should be even better with you. Could even be fun!

I can’t promise that I’ll never react to an Omega in heat. That’s my biology. But I can promise never to cheat on you. Being faithful isn’t about never being tempted, it’s about never acting on it. And that’s what I can give you, I know that. You need to trust me. Anyway, I’m not sure that I could ever truly desire an Omega if I was with you.’

‘Will you want to mark me, bite me? I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s not the pain. It’s the idea of everyone knowing that I’m yours.’

‘Not if you don’t want it. I won’t lie. I will want to mark you. It’s a powerful instinct. And I will want you to be mine and mine alone and for the whole world to know that. Even if I do mark you, it won’t last like it would if you were an Omega and it would be entirely your choice whether or not to renew it.’

‘I have one last question. Will you want to knot me? I mean, I’m not built for that as a Beta.’

There was a cloud over Matze’s face now. ‘I’ll try not to. But I won’t be able to resist the impulse for ever, not if we become a true pair. It’s too strong. But I promise to make it as comfortable as possible for you. I never want to hurt you, Erik’

‘OK, I want to do this. That is if you still do. Sorry that that isn’t the most romantic declaration ever!’

‘No Erik. It’s perfect. It means that you have thought about it and still want to be with me. That means so much more than us just having impulsive sex. Although, speaking of impulsive sex … ‘

Matze leaned forward and Erik could smell him clearly, could smell the most delicious and intoxicating scent emanating from his Alpha. When had he started thinking of Matze that way? He thought Matze would finally kiss him, but instead he bent to kiss and lick up and down Erik’s neck. This felt incredible. Erik felt like he was melting with desire and he instinctively bared his throat to Matze. He was acting like an Omega. Erik tensed up at the thought.

He heard Matze’s muffled voice vibrating against his throat. ‘Erik. Stop thinking. Stop thinking about whether you are behaving like a Beta or an Omega. Just be Erik. Just be yourself.’

And then he finally felt Matze’s lips on his, soft and yielding, hard and demanding, everything that Erik wanted and needed. The touch of Matze’s tongue sent small jolts of electricity coursing through his body, seeming to lead straight to his groin.

‘More?’ Matze asked, his voice hoarse and raw with need and arousal. Erik could only make some kind of noise that he desperately hoped Matze would understand as a ‘yes’. He must have said enough as Matze picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, placing him gently on the bed. Matze began to undress him and Erik felt the hot, sweet touch of a mouth and tongue on what seemed like every inch of his exposed skin. He needed to feel Matze naked now, and he started to pull and claw at Matze’s clothing, running his hands over his broad shoulders and strong thigh muscles.

Erik felt like he was melting and boiling all at once. This was perfection. He could sense the change in Matze’s scent, hear the faint growling sounds he made as he explored his Beta’s body and see the faint red rim around his pupils. But none of that mattered. He didn’t care that he was making love to an Alpha. He was making love to Matze. And that was all that mattered.

Matze prepared him thoroughly and slowly, before finally giving in to his painful desire and burying himself in Erik’s body with a low, possessive growl. The feel of Matze inside him, stretching, filling and possessing him, driving Erik into paroxysms of ecstasy with his soft but relentless thrusts deep inside his core, was taking Erik apart. And he knew exactly what he wanted.

‘I want everything, Matze. I want it all. Everything I can have as a Beta. Please give it to me.’

‘Are you sure?’ breathed Matze, the red in his eyes already deepening.

Erik nodded, unable to speak.

Matze lowered his mouth to Erik’s throat, gently shifting Erik’s head to one side. He didn’t hesitate – and Erik was glad of that – but sank his teeth straight into Erik’s vulnerable flesh, breaking the skin and licking up the red droplets of blood that oozed out. He came deep inside Erik, his teeth still buried in his neck. As Erik felt the pressure of Matze’s knot swelling inside him, Matze started to lick over the fresh bite mark, soothing and exciting Erik at the same time.

After a couple of minutes of licking and soothing, Matze lifted Erik’s head, baring his own throat and holding Erik’s mouth to his hot, salty, fragrant skin. Erik instinctively licked and sucked at the spot where Matze would normally bear a mating mark. He knew that he was reddening the skin and, as Matze encouraged him further, started to worry it with his teeth, nipping at the flesh, making deeper and deeper indentations.

Matze kept encouraging him, holding his head tight against his neck, his fingers threaded firmly through Erik’s hair. Finally it was all too much for Erik: the feeling of Matze’s mark on his neck, the throbbing of Matze’s knot against his prostrate, the sensation of being possessed and completely at one with Matze. Erik felt dizzy, his vision was blurred, the world was spinning and a sheer primal drive took over as he sank his teeth into Matze. He came, hard and wet against Matze’s abdomen, as he felt the first drops of iron-rich blood on his tongue.

Erik must have blacked out then because he came round snuggled close in Matze’s arms, the Alpha smiling down at him with a satisfied look on his face, stroking Erik’s soft hair back from his forehead.

‘That was … um … wow,’ Erik said, unable to think of anything more eloquent.

Matze smiled smugly. ‘Told you it would be.’

Erik caressed the bite mark on Matze’s neck. ‘How long will these last for?’

‘About a month or so, I guess.’

‘Oh good.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I can’t wait to do that again. I was worried I might have to wait for ages.’ Erik reached up to lick over the mark on Matze’s neck, loving the small growling sounds his Alpha made, which couldn’t help but remind him of the deep throaty purr of a predator.

They drove to training together the next day. The prominent bite marks on their necks meant that they had no chance of hiding what they had done last night in any case. They exchanged smiles as they prepared to strip off, readying themselves for the whistles and comments that would come their way. But it was all well-meaning and friendly and Erik was happy and proud as he fingered the mark on his neck.

Mats came up behind them and hugged them both. ‘Congratulations you two. I’m proud of you.’ Too late he realised that it might sound a little creepy to be congratulating his younger team mates for having sex and he hastily explained himself, ‘Congratulations for being brave enough to mate, I mean. You are young, but perfect for each other.’

Erik’s face fell, some of his happiness evaporating. ‘But we’re not mated. We can't be. I’m a Beta.’

He was surprised to hear Mats growl and an answering growl from Matze. ‘Don’t let anyone ever tell you what you can and can’t do, Erik.’ And then Mats added, ‘That mating bite on your neck is as real as the one any Omega wears. And the two of you are mated where it matters most – in your hearts.’

Erik smiled up at the amazing Alpha who had chosen him to be his mate. They had made the right decision, he was sure of that. And their future was going to be a lot of fun. He was really sure of that!

**Author's Note:**

> https://headbandsandheartbreak.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/the-daily-drool-epic-bromance-month-die-mannschaft-week-erik-durm-matthias-ginter/

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [We Can Work This Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11399520) by [mariothellama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariothellama/pseuds/mariothellama)




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